#Restorethe4th: Anti-NSA protest LIVE UPDATES

Protests against the American government’s surveillance of Internet activity have taken place all over the US. Hundreds gathered in such big cities as New York and Washington. All in all, the rallies took place in over 100 cities.

19:35 GMT: Around 500 people met up in New York City’s
Union Square to listen to privacy advocates and civil liberties
groups discuss Fourth Amendment rights, CNET reported.

19:25 GMT:

19:15 GMT:

19:02 GMT: Demonstrators rallied at the Utah Veterans
Memorial Park on Thursday, protesting against the NSA’s $1.5
billion Utah Data Center, believing it to be an example of the
government’s trampling on Fourth Amendment rights, The Salt Lake
Tribune reported.

18:49 GMT: Restore the Fourth organizers say that by early
afternoon, crowds of more than 400 had gathered in New York City
and Washington, D.C. They expect the turnout to be more than
10,000 nationwide.

17:58 GMT:"It's not too late, though it is getting
late. And, unlike a lot of countries, we have a means of
affecting change without violence," a campaign supporter
posted on Restore the Fourth's Facebook page.

17:55 GMT: Supporters of the campaign are using Twitter to
call on others to make a change and speak out against the NSA
surveillance programs.

17:21 GMT: The NSA posted a statement on its website on
Wednesday, saying that it did not object to lawful, peaceful
protests.

“The Fourth of July reminds us as Americans of the freedoms
and rights all citizens of our country are guaranteed by our
Constitution. Among those is freedom of speech, often exercised
in protests of various kinds,” the statement read.

A protest organizer responded to the statement on Restore the
Fourth's Facebook page:

"Rt4 (Restore the Fourth) does not object to any lawful,
peaceful press releases. And we sincerely appreciate your
official endorsement of the First Amendment. If you could work on
the Fourth next though that would be even better," the
response read.

17:14 GMT: Political activist and small government
advocate Carla Howell is speaking at the Washington, D.C.
rally.

"There are no abuses of the Patriot Act, the Patriot Act is an
abuse" -- Carla Howell at #RestoreThe4th
demonstration in NYC #NSA

13:24 GMT: In an article published by the Huffington Post,
Co-founder of Fight for the Future Tiffiniy Cheng writes about
the "dirty details" that keep piling up from the US
government, and encouraged citizens to fight for their Fourth
Amendment rights.

"Data is power. The government has stolen and can now analyze
billions of data to know everything about you -- they're painting
a picture of what you do, what you buy, who you call, where you
go. This isn't just about the pizza delivery you called for. It's
not just harmless meta data, as some characterize it. Government
agents can use this info to infer whether you have an illness or
an addiction, eye your money troubles, or gather what your
religious affiliations and political activities are. They can
investigate anyone for exercising their First Amendment right,
and target people based on the books they read and the websites
they visit," Cheng wrote.

Good morning #NYC and
all fellow liberty lovers. Join us TODAY at noon, Union Square
as we rally to #RestoreThe4th
. Let's get it.

13:10 GMT: Protests are set to kick off across the US,
Canada, Germany, and the UK. Information on the 103 cities taking
part in the demonstrations can be found here.

12:56 GMT: Senator Rand Paul has addressed the Restore the
Fourth movement in an online video.

“I think the right to privacy is one of the new fights of this
century. The Supreme Court is going to have to look at this. I
will continue to try to lead the fight. I complement all the
other privacy groups that are involved and I’m supportive of
their efforts to challenge this. We hope to get this to the
Supreme Court and let people know that really, with the internet,
there is expanded expectation of privacy,” Paul said in the
video.

12:34 GMT: 546,803 people have signed a petition
written by Stopwatching.us, demanding full disclosure of the NSA
surveillance programs.

"The revelations about the National Security Agency's
surveillance apparatus, if true, represent a stunning abuse of
our basic rights. We demand the US Congress reveal the full
extend of the NSA's spying programs," the website reads.